Copper and bronze: Australia's selection of Mauritian immigrants 1964-1973

For more than half a century, Australia has been a popular destination for Mauritian emigrants. The number of Australian residents born in Mauritius rose from 236 in 1947 to 17,083 in 1996.1 Mauritian migration to Australia peaked between the mid-1960s and the early 1970s. According to Mauritian official statistics, a total of 9379 Mauritians migrated to Australia between 1965 and 1973 alone. Many more would have done so if it had not been for Australia’s Department of Immigration, which discouraged some prospective immigrants from applying and rejected the applications of others.3 In the following, I analyse the means by which Australia effectively limited the number of Mauritian immigrants. I explore the selection criteria the Australian immigration authorities applied during the height of the Mauritian exodus to Australia, paying attention not only to the relevant policy, but also to how that policy was implemented. [Introduction]